King's Letter from Birmingham

Today, Americans remember the life of Martin Luther King, Jr.  And although I'm not an American, so do I.  A few weeks back, a young woman posted King's letter from a Birmingham jail on her facebook page, quoting from the letter "But more basically, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here."  This was posted days after making the move to a different city to give herself fully to pro-life work.  I have taken the time to read the letter and it left me crying.  I would like to further share my thoughts here.  You can read the letter or watch this video that shares the letter.  It is lengthier, but well worth it.

This letter was written from a jail in Birmingham after King had been arrested for parading without a permit.  It was in response to criticism from clergymen about his non-violent activities to protest against segregation.  It's one of the few times he responded to the criticism he often received.  He begins by explaining why he is in Birmingham, since he was previously in Atlanta.  He was invited, but more than that, Birmingham was a place of grave injustice.  So he went where he was wanted and needed.  He went to where the injustice was, instead of staying in Atlanta.  Not once did he say that the injustice in Birmingham wasn't his problem.  He recognized that injustice in one city directly or indirectly affected the entire nation and he didn't shrink back.

In order to fight injustice in Birmingham, King and those who worked alongside him had "to undertake a process of self purification."  They had to prepare themselves, ask themselves hard questions, and evaluate whether or not they were willing to bear the cost of their actions.  For King, it ended up meaning going to jail.  He was willing to disobey unjust laws and accept the consequences "to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice...." 

In his letter, King addresses some of his disappointments. One of his disappointments was the white moderate.  These are the white people who would rather sit on the fence about segregation and desired to keep the peace instead of speak out against injustice.  They were the people who thought they needed to give it more time.  Time, however, as King made clear, would not change anything. 

Another one of King's disappointments, the one that really caught my attention, was his disappointment with the church.  "I have been so greatly disappointed with the white church and its leadership."  He goes on to acknowledge some exceptions.  "But despite these notable exceptions, I must honestly reiterate that I have been disappointed with the church."  This man was not speaking out of criticism, but out of love.  He was a minister of the gospel and dearly loved the church.  Here was a man who had been expecting support from the church, and was finding that people in the church were some of his greatest opponents.  For them, the issues of injustice had nothing to do with the Gospel.

This really made me think.  How many people within our nation or around the world would say this about the North American church?  We are not living up to our calling!  But King doesn't stop there.  He goes on to explain how the early church was different.

"There was a time when the church was very powerful--in the time when the early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed.  In those day the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society.  Whenever the early Christians entered a town, the people in power became disturbed and immediately sought to convict the Christians for being "disturbers of the peace" and "outside agitators."  But the Christians pressed on, in the conviction that they were "a colony of heaven," called to obey God rather than man.  Small in number, they were big in commitment.  They were too God-intoxicated to be "astronomically intimidated."  By their effort and example they brought an end to such ancient evils as infanticide and gladiatorial contests.  Things are different now.  So often, the contemporary church is a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound.  So often it is an archdefender of the status quo.  Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church's silent--and often even vocal--sanction of things as they are."

Here I broke down crying.  I cried over how far the church has fallen.

". . . If today's church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century.  Every day I meet young people whose disappointment with the church has turned into outright disgust."

What I'm about to say in the next couple paragraphs I say to myself as much as to my readers.

These words were written 50 years ago, and what has changed?  It sounds hardly any different from the church in North America today.  This ought to break our hearts.  This ought to disturb us, deeply.  Instead of the church shaking up the world, the world is shaking up the church.  And we are silent.  We are silent as our government allows the killing of millions of children.  We are silent as children are sold for sex.  We are silent as same-sex marriage is legalized.  Many who bear the name of Christian are active participants in the injustice and immorality.  Sure we may speak about these things amongst ourselves, but do our politicians ever hear about it?  Are we having any affect on public opinion?  Or are people just looking at our churches in disgust, as social clubs with no meaning?

It's time to speak up.  It's time to shake our nation.  It's time to stand for truth and for justice until we start receiving some opposition, which may perhaps come from other believers.  It's time for the church to hear again "These people have turned the world upside down!"  We need to return to the power of the early church.  Yes, there will be a cost.  Jesus told us so much.  Have we experienced the extent of the cost He described?

I was told recently that it only takes 3 percent of a population to shift culture.  If that be true, why aren't we doing it?

Where are you at?  In what ways to you need to disturb the peace around you?  Where do you need to stand for truth? 

Find the answers to those questions and go turn the world upside down!

Looking for Vision?

I recently happened upon an article by John C. Maxwell on vision.  Please read it to understand what I'm about to say. I wasn't sure about everything he said, but much of this article I understood from experience.  Maxwell begins his article with a few very important questions.  "Where does vision come from?  How does a leader develop a clear vision for the future?"

It seems to me that Maxwell puts vision and leadership together, and the more I think about, the two go hand in hand.  Leaders have vision.  In order to be a leader, you have to have a vision.  Who will want to look to you if you don't?  When I look at my generation, this is something that is greatly lacking, and the church is no exception.  Youth are wandering around with no clear direction, no vision for the future and are content to settle for the mediocre.  It often grieves me to watch their lives.

I understand what Maxwell writes about feeling your way through the dark.  That's the hard part.  The thing about vision is, it's not clear in the beginning.  For a long time, I have believed that God has something much greater in mind for my life, but I couldn't see what it was.  I still can't, but I do believe he is beginning to shed some light on it and show me what He wants from me.  He does that you know.

Isaiah 42:16
"And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know,
in paths that they have not known I will guide them.
I will turn the darkness before them into light,
the rough places into level ground.
These are the things I do,
and I do not forsake them."

God doesn't always give us the full picture right away.  Sometimes He sheds just enough light for the next step.  I'm experiencing this in my life right now, and it's scary.  I don't know where this path in front of me will go, and I don't always know if I can handle what's ahead, but he gives the grace to get through one day at a time.

Maxwell believes that passion is the beginning of vision.  I had to think about this, but I think I agree.  It reminded me immediately of an article I wrote a few months back called "What Do I Do Now?".  I  have concluded that a part of the reason so many single young women are discontent is because they don't have any meaningful task they love to pour themselves into.  Until they have a love for something, a work that they can pour themself into, something they truly care about, they likely won't have vision.

I really liked how Maxwell said "Desire alone is surely not sufficient to develop a vision."  This is so, so true.  He explains that our knowledge and abilities must be complemented by passion in order to make a difference.  And passion, a desire alone for something, won't get you very far if you don't have the necessary knowledge or skills. 

A verse that has meant a lot to me recently is Proverbs 19:2: "Desire without knowledge is not good, and whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way." (ESV)  I read this when I first began to learn about vision and it's place in my life.  It showed me that I needed to develop certain knowledge and skills if I wanted my dreams to fly.  But ultimately, passion is what will drive your vision and make it a reality.

A lot of people wander through life because they don't know what they truly want and they don't have anything that drives them.  It won't always be clear at first and sometimes you'll have to feel through the dark, but until you have discovered those things, you will not have vision.  So find out what it is.

Where Are the Men?

I wrote an article for the girls a couple weeks ago, now this one is for the guys.  Hold on tight!  Some of you may write this post off, and I would understand why. I'm not here to bash men, but to share an article that addresses a common question among women, share my perspective, and hopefully encourage any guys who may end up reading this.

It's "Dude, Where's Your Bride?" by Kevin DeYoung.  I loved this article and not just because it tells the men to be men.  Kevin takes into account both sides of the problem, which is necessary.  I laughed right off at the start where he made that remark about girls reading Just Do Something and thinking he would be sympathetic, because I knew exactly what he was talking about.  I read the book a couple years ago and loved what he had to say on the marriage issue.

Before you go further, please read Kevin's article.  It'll save me some explaining.  It speaks best for itself.  I'm just here to add my thoughts to it. 

I've been reminded often of how lucky I am to be part of a church/youth group with nice guys who respect and look out for the girls.  Not every young woman has that.  But even so, the girls waaaay outnumber the guys.  When people ask me why I'm single (even at my young age), I have a number of answers, but.....I hate to put it this way, (and it's certainly only a small aspect of the issue), but I can count the number of eligible men older than me in my church on one hand.  And there's a lot of girls!!!  I know there are churches who have the opposite problem, but I'm not about to go "church-shopping" in hopes of finding someone.

Even so, the issue does not rest solely on the shoulders of the men, and I think it was very needful for Kevin to address that. Some girls are simply desperate, and well, scare the guys away.  Or they have impossible, fairy-talish standards.  Many of these graduate women that are filling churches aren't pursuing careers because they're feminists, but because they have to find something to do in the meantime.  Kevin addresses this matter more in depth in Just Do Something. Delayed marriage really does complicate education and career decisions for women.  As much as they want to marry and raise a family, they have to find a way to be profitable now.

"If you are single, pray more for the sort of spouse you should be than for the sort of spouse you want."  Yes!  I've realized this more in my own life.  If you want a great man, you have to be a great woman deserving of him!  You can't expect to have it all, and he gets little in return.  Keep praying for that amazing, godly man, but start praying more that God would change you to be that amazing, godly woman deserving of him!  Very often, our idea of marriage during this season of life is totally selfish.  Now's the time to turn it around.

Honestly, Kevin sums up perfectly what girls want in this one paragraph.  Guys, we aren't asking for you to be rich and attain the world's definition of success.  But this is what we are asking for.

"I don’t think young women are expecting Mr. Right to be a corporate executive with two houses, three cars, and a personality like Dale Carnegie. They just want a guy with some substance. A guy with plans. A guy with some intellectual depth. A guy who can winsomely take initiative and lead a conversation. A guy with consistency. A guy who no longer works at his play and plays with his faith. A guy with a little desire to succeed in life. A guy they can imagine providing for a family, praying with the kids at bedtime, mowing the lawn on Saturday, and being eager to take everyone to church on Sunday. Where are the dudes that will grow into men?"

I didn't share this to join the crowd of exulting women shouting "Preach it!  Let 'em have it!"  No, I just wanted to share my brief perspective on both sides of the issue.  I want to encourage the men to rise up and be men and  to share what it is that we as young women wish to see, at the same time acknowledging that we have a lot of work to do to be the wives you deserve.  We don't expect you to be rich, but we want to see you have a vision and godly ambition, being leaders in the church and in the home, to be able to trust you to provide for our children, and we pray that we would be worthy of that. 

Randy Alcorn on Speculative Faith

Randy Alcorn just wrote a two part article for Speculative Faith.  In Part 1, he explains his love for sci-fi and fantasy, how great fiction points to Biblical truth, and why Christians often avoid the genre.  In Part 2, he explains his novelization of the movie Courageous, and how anticipating the New Earth changes our lives.

I haven't read any full-length books by Randy Alcorn, but I greatly appreciated some of the ideas he spoke about in these articles.  I personally enjoy the speculative genre, although I haven't read that much of it yet.  The more I read Speculative Faith, the more I understand why Christians love it.  This is what Alcorn says:

"Is God’s imagination less than that of his image-bearers? Or is the height of human imagination at its best a reflection of the infinite creativity of the divine mind?

When we get excited reading Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy or Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia, it’s not our sinfulness that arouses that excitement. It’s our God-given hunger for adventure, for new realms and new beings, for new beauties and new knowledge. God has given us a longing for new worlds."

This kind of made me go "Whoa!! God has an imagination!!"  He thought up the whole universe and spoke it into being.  Out of nothing, He created the stars, planets, and everything we can see and can't see in this world.  He placed us in this crazy drama called Life to be a part of His story.

We, being created in His image, also have an imagination.  Many of the things we enjoy on a daily basis are the product of man's imagination.  We have a desire to create and tell stories because He did it first and put that desire within us! Human beings have created some amazing things, but it's only a small reflection of what God has done.  And the crazy things is, God's not even done yet! He's going to create a new world which will be better than this one.  How awesome isn't that?

I love what Alcorn says in Part 2:

"Are you living with the disappointment of unfulfilled dreams? In Heaven you’ll find their fulfillment! Did poverty, poor health, war, or lack of time prevent you from pursuing an adventure or dream? Did you never get to finish building that boat or painting that picture or writing that book—or reading that pile of books? Good news. On the New Earth you will have a second chance to do what you dreamed of doing—and far more besides."

I really hope that part about the books is true.  This is going to sound extremely vain, but I've wondered about that a lot lately.  I like reading, but I'm no speed reader. I can't finish a full-length book in a few hours like some people can.  I like details and I usually want every single one.

So when I discover a new book, it goes on a list, and I add to that list often.  At this point, I have about 200-300 books I decided at some point I wanted to read, plus tons more if-I-get-to-it books.  And with new stuff always coming out and my slow progress, I'm so afraid I'll never finish in my lifetime and I'll miss out on something great.  And I honestly wonder if maybe I can read them in the next life, where time will no longer be a problem.  Yes, that just sounded really pathetic, but this seriously has been on my mind. (I can almost hear my readers laughing at me right now.)

I have read about 20 books so far this year, but I have spent the last 6 months reading and studying Jane Eyre. I still have the hardest thinking ahead of me and I will have to decide what I believe on some very important issues. I've definitely wondered how fast universities cover this material. At times I'm afraid my brain might break, but I've learned so much, it's been worth it.

At my rate, it looks impossible, but Alcorn has given me a sliver of hope.  I may not be able to cover everything, but with the time I have, I will appreciate the imagination God has given mankind, think, learn, seek great things and pursue the dreams He has put within me.  I don't know what the New Earth will all hold, but I don't think we have reason to wonder if we'll be disappointed.  I think God's imagination has yet to blow us away.

Books and Random Conversations

I had an appointment to go to yesterday morning before heading to work, and as usual, I brought a book along to pass the waiting time.  This time it was a novel called Words by Ginny L. Yttrup, which I will likely write about in the near future.  I was sitting in a large waiting room, all alone, when a man walks in, pauses in front of me, as I'm focused on my book and strikes up a conversation.  "That's something you never see anymore!"

I look up and he explains how long it had been since he had seen a person, especially a young one reading a physical book in a waiting room.  Apparently tablets are becoming a lot more popular than paper.  In the 20 minutes or so that followed, I had discussions with three complete strangers about the direction of the book and music industries, e-readers, cell phones, other technology, teenagers and social etiquette.  I left feeling inspired and filled with joy that carried me through the rest of the day.

I'm amazed at the discovery I just made.  I never would have thought that something so small and seemingly insignificant could lead to something so meaningful.  The book I was reading was of no significance.  It was simply the fact that I was reading a paper book.  Maybe the fact that I was young, dressed for work and looking preppy had more to do with it.  I really don't know.  But a book for me produced an opportunity.

In 20 minutes, I had a chance to share my perspective with individuals much older than myself.  I had a chance to show them that there are teens out there who think differently than the rest of the world.  I had a chance to put a smile on their faces.  I had a chance to share what I've been learning and why I have made some of the decisions I have.  I left feeling not only inspired, but also that what I have to say really does matter.

Here's what I have to tell my readers.  The small, seemingly insignificant things you do matter, even if you'd rather use a Kindle over paper.  Your choices in all areas of life hold the power to impact.  Don't be afraid to be counter cultural. When opportunities present themselves, don't be afraid to share your perspective.  Even if you don't have a chance to share the Gospel, if they can see that your life is different, that you're not following the norm, you never know what kind of seeds you may plant and what fruit they may later produce.

Why do I read physical books?  Because I simply love a physical book.  I prefer to read off of paper than a glaring screen.  Don't get me wrong. I use my computer a lot and make use of the countless online resources available to me.  Although some people have encouraged me to purchase a Kindle, I'm not quite ready for that. Yes, the idea of being able to carry my whole library around in my purse is enticing, but I still love seeing books on a shelf.  Books are meant to be shared.  Technology has provided alternatives for so many things, and I love it, but I'm not quite ready to let go of my books.

Here are a couple of articles I wrote that I used in my conversations yesterday.  Who would have thought the ideas I ponder on my blog could prove to be so useful in everyday life?
Why I Don't Have a Cell Phone
New Trends in Education

Careers and Personal Life

I don't know a whole lot about politics or American history, but you don't have to in order to know there's always rivalries.  I usually don't pay much attention to it.  I have no interest in listening to politicians bicker and insult each other.  But 10 Best Political Rivalries in American History did catch my attention.

In several cases, the individuals who were at odds with each other in the political arena had personal problems with each other first.  Burr and Hamilton hated each other and it ended violently.  Such was also the case with Brooks and Sumner.

The problems between VP Richard Nixon and Senator John F. Kennedy were also personal, but on a different level.  Nixon's sense of insecurity and inferiority caused him problems in the political arena.  Sure, he had all the credentials, but he came from a poor family whereas he viewed Kennedy as a privileged rich boy.  He didn't think he measured up. Later as president, he had to work to expose the grime in possible opponent Senator Ted Kennedy's life in the 1972 election.  His negative self image affected his political career, causing conflict that may not have been necessary.

What I mostly see in this article is that your personal life and career will always affect each other to some degree.  Politicians who couldn't get along with one another personally couldn't work well together and even caused them to turn to violence.  The way you grow up, view yourself and view others will affect your confidence in your work.  If you don't think you can make yourself look good to the public, you have to try to make someone else look bad to give yourself chance.

As much as some people would like to make a clear distinction between work and personal life, you just can't.  They'll always be at least somewhat connected.  If you lack honesty and integrity at home or in your social life, chances are you may at work as well.  If you have problems at work, you'll bring them home with you. They can never be entirely separated.  And don't think you leave your problems behind when you walk out the door.  They will follow you.

Serving the Church

"It’s nice being a pew warmer. You can just
show up to church Sunday morning, even a few
minutes late if you’re dragging your feet, take
your seat in the crowd, listen to the sermon,
sing some songs, and go home to your lunch
without a second thought. It’s quite convenient
when you can just sit back, be blessed, and let
everyone else do the work. And that’s precisely
what millions of Christians do."

Read the rest of my article at Lighted Lamp here.